Action 2: Review and Enhance Policies
Review our policies to ensure Meredith is not unconsciously contributing to systemic racism. Changes will be made to policies that promote or enhance systemic racism.
Recent Progress
- The Human Resources and Dean of Students offices reviewed student and employee handbooks for clear expectations of behavior regarding race.聽
- A Bias Incident Reporting Process has been established, with educational sessions held during the spring聽 2023 semester.
- A session for students and faculty/staff in spring 2021 addressed transparency in the hiring process. Human Resources also offers a workshop for search committees on Inclusive Hiring Practices.聽
- The Student Leadership and Service Office continues to examine the purposes and values of traditions and is providing training to better equip student leaders to approach their work with cultural humility. Changes have been made to the Big/Little program and Stunt as a result of this work.
- A position has been added to the SGA Executive Board to ensure that diversity, equity, and inclusion are priorities for the Meredith student body.聽
- A DEI Session has been incorporated into First Year Experience curriculum.聽
- The Office of Career Planning has taken numerous steps to infuse racial equity, inclusion, and belonging into its program, and is working in partnership with employers to do the same.
- The Marketing office is working to address concerns about tokenizing students and accurately reflecting the student experience. Marketing staff members met with the DEI Coordinator to determine ways to improve and to be mindful of inclusivity best practices. Examples of steps taken include using more documentary-style photos of campus life in recruitment publications, including featured students in the review of Strong Stories, and shifting to first-person perspective in written profiles.
- Counseling Center and Disability Services staff have participated in numerous anti-racism trainings, surveyed students who received counseling regarding their experience and quality of support, and promote anti-racism and inclusion on their social media accounts.
- Campus Police has continued to follow best practices such as hiring a workforce that is reflective of the community in terms of diversity, and ensuring all staff participate in annual cultural sensitivity training. The Police Chief served on the committee researching the DEI position.
- StrongPoints staff have attended multiple anti-racism trainings, held DEI-related student focus groups, and participated in the DEI exploratory committee
- Revisions have been made to the Honor Code, especially clarifying how harassment, discrimination, acts of intolerance, etc. are defined. These definitions and examples have been included in the most recent edition of the Student Handbook.
- Faculty development workshops are guiding efforts to create a more inclusive classroom environment, including diversifying curricula. A DEI faculty subcommittee and Faculty Professional Development Committee have been established.
- Faculty, staff, and student groups have adopted a statement of commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion that will be included on syllabi and in various documents of the College.
- Numerous anti-racism and microaggression training opportunities have been provided for faculty and staff since the launch of the initiative in June 2020. Recent examples include offering DEI Foundations training and creating The Diversity Equity and Inclusion Foundations Certificate, designed to offer faculty and staff the opportunity to engage in workshops to broaden awareness about DEI topics, engage in dialogue and increase understanding of current issues. The Certificate includes three two-hour workshops: Exploring Subtle Acts of Exclusion, Implicit Bias, and Cultural Consciousness.聽 The workshops are designed to introduce foundational concepts and encourage reflection.聽
- Administrators, faculty, and staff members have compiled a list of anti-racism resources that are available on MyMeredith, the College鈥檚 intranet.
- In addition to work done as part of the Anti-racism initiative, accessibility training opportunities have also been encouraged for faculty, staff, and students, including a Student Leadership & Service Events Accessibility Workshop and a five-part Advancing Accessibility Certificate program for employees.
